With little work on the horizon, Canadians space industry faces brain drain

MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates built the RADARSAT 2 satellite (pictured) but funding for its Constellation project is stalled.

Canada is losing some of its best and brightest space industry talent to the U.S and Europe because of the federal government’s lack of vision and support for domestic space firms, warn analysts and workers.

A space “brain drain” is already underway as Canadian employees face either a lack of work or layoffs.

“I know of several colleagues who have already left Canada because there is no work,” said Kevin Shortt, the former president of the Canadian Space Society. “And what little bit of work there is, is tenuous at best.”

Shortt himself left Canada in the summer to accept a job with the German space agency.

Canada’s two main space firms, MacDonald Dettwiler (MDA) in British Columbia and COM DEV, with facilities in Ottawa and Cambridge, Ont. have laid off employees because of the lack of work from the Canadian Space Agency. More than 100 employees were laid off at MDA while COM DEV cut 31 staff members.

At the same time funding for Canadian space projects is drying up. The Conservative government announced earlier this year it would reduce the Canadian Space Agency’s budget from $424 million to $363 million by spring of 2013.

In coming years, the agency’s budget is expected to drop back to its base level of $300 million, although it could go up if the government approves new space projects.

The only major Canadian government project on the horizon is the Radarsat Constellation Mission, or RCM, which will place three surveillance satellites in orbit. Negotiations between the government and MacDonald Dettwiler are ongoing but that project has already fallen two years behind schedule. After that project is completed, there is little else on the space agency’s roster, industry representatives say.

Last week former Conservative cabinet minister David Emerson, who oversaw a review of the country’s aerospace industry, warned that Canada’s space program had foundered. He called for a “reset” of that program, pointing out how valuable it is to the country. “Canada’s national interest demands that we make effective use of space to unlock wealth, secure our coastlines and borders, protect our population, and deliver services,” he said. “This is becoming even truer as the North opens.”

COM DEV chief executive officer Mike Pley says some of the employees the firm had to lay off were world-class experts in space science instruments. “I’m pretty sure there are a fair number of (foreign) companies out there that would look at those type of people as being prime talent,” he explained. “So there is a concern (about a brain drain).”

The industry hasn’t tracked the numbers of employees who have left Canada.

But MDA president Daniel Friedmann has also warned that his staff are being forced to leave Canada because of lack of work. Earlier this year he raised concerns that Canada’s space capabilities were at risk of being eroded because of the flight of talented workers.

Pley said Canada needs a long-term space strategy so companies know what projects are in the works, allowing them to make investments and plan properly.

Mike Kirby, an Ottawa-based space industry consultant, said a government-produced long-term space plan would also provide workers with an idea of the opportunities available in future. Without one there is uncertainty in the industry, he added.

“Younger people just starting their career or who are early in their career watch what is happening these days and wonder why they should stay in Canada?” Kirby explained.

The Conservative government had promised to release a long-term space plan years ago but that was never done.

Shortt said the situation is ironic and disappointing considering the Conservative government stepped in to stop the sale of MacDonald Dettwiler to a U.S. firm. Government representatives raised concerns about leading-edge Canadian space technology going to the U.S and the Conservatives eventually determined the sale wasn’t in the best interests of the country.

Canadian Space Agency president Steve MacLean recently said the government is fully behind the Radarsat Constellation Mission and he expects an announcement on that project soon. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has also talked about how such technology has made Canada a leader in the aerospace world.

But Shortt said the industry’s problems wouldn’t be fixed by the approval of the Radarsat mission. That would provide several years worth of work but without other government programs the space industry will still face ongoing issues about its future.

Shortt noted the government has also cut funding for science and research. “I look at the space industry as being like the canary in the coal mine,” he explained. “This is symptomatic of broader issues in high-technology research and development within Canada.”

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